U.N. Security Council Demands Aid Access to Yarmuk Camp in Syria

The U.N. Security Council on Monday demanded humanitarian aid access to help thousands of refugees trapped in Syria's Yarmuk camp after it was partly seized by the Islamic State group.

The 15-member council called "for the protection of civilians in the camp for ensuring a humanitarian access to the area including by providing life-saving assistance," said Jordan's Ambassador Dina Kawar, who chairs the council this month.

Islamic State fighters have captured large swaths of the Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus in an offensive launched on April 1 and hundreds of families have been evacuated.

Kawar said the council expressed deep concern over the "grave situation" for the 18,000 refugees in the camp and demanded safe passage for the evacuation of civilians.

The council is ready to consider "further measures to provide necessary assistance," said Kawar, but she did not provide details. 

The council received a report from Pierre Krahenbuhl, of the Palestinian UNRWA relief agency, who described the situation in the camp as "more desperate than ever."

Krahenbuhl told reporters that he appealed to countries with influence in Syria to act "for civilian lives to be spared and for humanitarian access to be given."

Jihadists from IS first attacked the camp, just seven kilometers (four miles) from central Damascus, on Wednesday.